To be able to connect field devices within an automated system to a higher-order control device, for example a stored program control (SPC), in an efficient and cost-effective manner, standardized connection systems, known as IO-Link communication systems, have been known for quite some time. The IO-Link communication system is a standardized point-to-point connection system. IO-Link devices, which are primarily sensors, actuators, or combinations thereof, are connected via separate point-to-point connections to an IO-Link master, which in turn may be connected to an SPC. Each IO-Link device is connected to a separate IO-Link port of the IO-Link master. Depending on the configuration, the IO-Link ports function as digital inputs or outputs. In addition, IO-Link ports may be configured in such a way that they are able to establish cyclical communication with a connected IO-Link device. One task of the IO-Link master is to collect the input process data arriving at the ports from the connected IO-Link devices, and transmit them to the SPC via a higher-order field bus. The SPC has specialized functional devices which map the received input process data onto output process data. These output process data are subsequently sent from the SPC to the IO-Link master. The IO-Link master distributes the received output process data over the appropriate IO-Link ports, which then send output process data to the corresponding IO-Link devices. However, this communication cycle may take too long for some applications in which IO-Link input process data must be mapped more quickly onto IO-Link output process data.